Kitchen Elevation

I’ve gotten so many questions about my design process lately with me designing a whole house. I posted some tips here, but as I said in that post, one of the BIG keys to designing for me is sketching.

Now, I’ll be the first to say, I’m not a professional artist! These elevation sketches aren’t perfect. They are not done digitally as you’ll see many designers do. But for me, they are critical to knowing I’m on the right track with a space and so I decided I needed to share them with y’all!

Usually, once I have a basic layout and some basic design ideas in my head, I do a fairly “to-scale” sketch. I use grid paper to get the outline and major objects down and then trace it onto white paper because the grids mess up my details and accessories.

But, then I have fun. I sketch in placement of major objects. I add in some accessories and details I’m considering. It’s HUGE for giving me a visual of the space and making sure I’m on the right track.

After we moved the kitchen layout around like I talked about yesterday, I started sketching. Some of the details might change slightly since I sketched these, but the placement is all the same.

I first sketched our sink wall with the dishwasher to the left and a small cabinet to the right. I didn’t want to do any upper cabinets as I said yesterday and the walls left on either side of the window are super small. The sketch process is what made me realize there were room for sconces! I LOVE sconces in a kitchen and am so excited to have them. I’m still looking for the right ones, so I just drew in some generic sconces, but I’m planning some sort of statement-making fixtures. If you have suggestions, please send them my way!

Then I moved on and drew our stove wall.

This wall, as you can tell compared to the sink wall, will definitely be the focal point of the room. I love the centered stove with the hood over top. The hood is one thing that I haven’t completely nailed down yet. I love the exposed modern stainless hoods like we currently have, but I’m really loving the built-in hoods as well. This will probably be a detail I nail down as the kitchen starts to come together.

I’m planning to hang a fabulous piece of art over the stove, have mirrored open shelving on either side (probably modern, floating shelves), and the wall is something I am SUPER excited about. I’ve debated all kinds of backsplashes and right now, I’m leaning towards one specific thing I’ll share tomorrow. The above is a little hint and it’s not subway!

I’m so excited to share my kitchen mood board tomorrow and you to see the colors and finishes we’re choosing! If you’re just joining us for kitchen week around here, make sure you check out Monday’s 15 inspiring kitchens that are inspiring our design and yesterday’s layout and cabinet planning.

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Hi! I’ve been following you for a while and I just love your style and use of so many different textures and colors that all just go together. We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel ourselves and I’m such a visual person that I’m really really needing to put a mood board together. I’Ve never made one but I know it would help me tremendously with making decisions. Can you point share how you design a mood board? What software or website do you use? I’ve seen others but I love how your mood boards turn out! Thanks so very much!!!

Amber, you are so sweet! Thank you so much for the sweet compliments. Mood boards are HUGE for me. It’s great to have the visual and to go back to over time. So many have shown me over time if those design decisions are right or wrong. I use Photoshop, which I know is expensive, but there are other ways to do it! If you’re just doing it for you to have to look at, Microsoft Word could work just to see elements paired together. If you’re wanting a more professional look like these where items are cut out, etc., you’re going to need something better. I know some use PicMonkey, but I don’t know much about it. I hope that helps!